AMMAN - Nine Syrian, Iranian, Israeli, and Western sources claim that Iran has sent military equipment and weapons into Syria, one of its most important allies, using earthquake relief flights, Reuters reported. 

The aim, according to the sources, was to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and strengthen Iran's Syrian defenses against Israel.

Sources claim that hundreds of flights carrying supplies from Iran began landing in Syria's Aleppo, Damascus, and Latakia airports after the earthquake on February 6 in northern Syria and Turkey. There were more flights for seven weeks. According to estimates from the UN, more than 6,000 people perished in Syria as a whole.

According to two regional sources and a Western intelligence source, the supplies included cutting-edge communications gear, radar batteries, and spare parts needed for a planned upgrade of Syria's air defense system, which was supplied by Iran during its civil war.

For this article, Reuters consulted Western intelligence officials, sources close to the Iranian and Israeli governments, a Syrian military defector, and an active-duty Syrian officer.

Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York responded, "That's not true." when questioned about whether Iran had used humanitarian relief planes after the earthquakes to transport military equipment to Syria to strengthen its network there and support Assad.

An inquiry for comment was not answered by the government of Syria.

Israeli air strikes against the shipments relied on intelligence so precise that Israel's military knew which truck in a lengthy convoy to target, according to Brigadier General Yossi Kuperwasser, an insider and former head of research in the Israel army as well as the general director of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs.

"Under the guise of shipments of earthquake aid to Syria, Israel has seen significant movements of military equipment from Iran, mainly transported in parts." an anonymous Israeli defense official who asked to remain anonymous told Reuters.

According to him, Aleppo Airport in northern Syria received the majority of the aid deliveries. He claimed that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' foreign espionage and paramilitary unit, the Quds Force, under the command of Hassan Mehdoui, organized the shipments.

He claimed that Transport Unit 190 of the Quds Force, under the command of Bahanem Shahariri, was in charge of ground transportation. Mehdoui and Shahariri could not be reached for comment by Reuters. Reluctant to comment, the Revolutionary Guards.

Colonel Abduljabbar Akaidi, a former member of the Syrian military who still has connections in the army, claimed that Israeli strikes also "targeted a meeting of commanders of Iranian militias and shipments of electronic chips to upgrade weapons systems," Akaidi omitted to mention the location of the meeting.

According to a regional source, Israel struck Aleppo's runway just hours after two Iranian cargo planes had arrived with arms shipments while pretending to be carrying aid supplies. This information was corroborated by two other Western intelligence sources.

A few days prior to President Assad's arrival, Brigadier General Esmail Qaani of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force was the first foreign official to enter the earthquake zone in Syria. Qaani could not be reached by Reuters for comment. Revolutionary Guards officials chose not to comment.

In the event of a humanitarian crisis, U.N. relief aircraft are permitted to request landing permission from local authorities, and humanitarian aid is not subject to sanctions. In this instance

Direct flights from Iran and Russia are now permitted to land in Syria by the government there.

"Although the earthquake was a tragic catastrophe, it also gave us the opportunity to support our Syrian brothers in their battle against their adversaries." Weapons were immediately sent in large quantities to Syria, "said a source in the region who is close to Iran's clerical leadership.

Since Tehran started backing Assad in 2011, it has increased its influence in Syria, where Israel has been attacking targets with ties to Iran. According to a Syrian army officer, the earthquake that made it possible for Iranian jets to land in Syria has prompted Israel to step up its efforts to defeat Iran there. Following additional earthquakes on April 3, Israeli forces targeted areas south of Damascus, including the Jabal Manea Kiswa mountain range, where Iranian forces and Hezbollah from Lebanon have established their most heavily fortified military outpost in Syria.

The regional source confirmed what two Western intelligence sources had told Reuters: that a drone radar station had also been hit on April 3.

According to a Western intelligence source, Iran has been flying since the earthquake on February 6. "We believe that Iranian militias have transferred huge quantities of ammunition—they have restocked quantities lost in previous Israeli drone strikes," the source said.

—Reuters